The Seven Signs of Love
by SousLeStylo
Summary: A series of vignettes in which Lily Evans discovers that she's got the classic seven signs of Love...grudgingly, of course. R&R, please!
1. A Severe Case of Clumsiness

**A/N:** Well, this was going to be a one-shot, but then I discovered that it was much more fun to turn it into a series of vignettes. Thus, a brief chapter story came into being. But this time I have a guard against never updating: I've already written the whole thing.

So, please enjoy this, and rest assured that there is much more to come.

**Disclaimer:** Most assuredly not mine.

**The Seven Signs Of Love**

**A Severe Case of Clumsiness**

It was early Monday morning, thankfully before the usual rush of students off to breakfast emerged from their dormitories, and I was standing in the middle of the common room, staring down at my third broken vase for the morning. Not only was it a beautiful vase: blue flowers, green vines, yellow background…but it was also a personal record for me.

It wasn't that the vases could not be fixed. That was beside the point. I was a witch, and a very good one at that—of course I could _fix_ them. But still, three vases broke in one morning? Wow.

My mouth quirked down at the side—a halfhearted frown, as I stared at the many shards of porcelain that littered the thick burgundy carpet of the Gryffindor common room. Behind me, I knew, there was a trail of broken pottery.

I would have cried, really I would have—just up and bawl right there for a good, long while, except that I had very little remorse for this vase. Let's face it—this was not my first, and undoubtedly would not be my last. Those vases were just ridiculous. If one petit, seventeen year old girl could knock out three within an hour of waking up, well then suffice to say that there were far too many vases in the interior design of the space.

Laughter from the other side of the room broke my concentration. I knew that laugh—that annoying, pompous, absurdly cheerful chuckle…James Potter. He was a fellow seventh-year, Head Boy, quidditch captain, and an utter _prat_.

I turned my head, lifted my nose, and said with as much dignity as I could muster, "What?"

James stopped chuckling and looked at me, obviously amused. Ooh, I was going to _kill_ him! He had been sitting in the common room as I came crashing down from my dormitory. He hadn't even bothered to help me clean up—he just stood up, watched me, and started to laugh.

"Nothing," he said. "I'm just wondering what those poor vases ever did to you?"

"They didn't _do_ anything to me, Potter. I just am a little clumsy this morning," I replied.

"_This morning_?" James scoffed, "What about yesterday when you put your elbow through four consecutive portraits? Or the day before that when not only did you manage to break _another_ vase, but you also tripped on the rug, smashed a chair, _and_ knocked down a suit of armor?"

I sniffed and said loudly, "LIKE I SAID, _POTTER_, I AM JUST A LITTLE CLUMSY."

I had actually forgotten about that suit of armor. It was just standing there, obviously in my way, as I came out of the library with my friend, Emmeline. James and his three best mates had been standing outside of the large hall with several books each—up to no good, I'm sure. Suddenly, there it was in all of its stupid, gleaming glory—the armor of Sir Isaac of Damaggart.

The crash, it was said later, could be heard from the dungeons of Hogwarts Castle.

Looking at the broken vase, James raised an eyebrow and then replied, "I guess so."

He watched me kneel down and pick up one of the shards of porcelain, and then he ran a hand through his hair, smiled, and said, "Funny how you are always clumsy when _I'm_ around, don't you think?"

I rolled my eyes emphatically and said, "Well, you do bring out the worst in people, Potter."

James just grinned at me and said, "The 'worst', eh?"

He had always had the annoying habit of not getting angry with me. He either had a lot of self-control, or insults simply didn't bother him. Based on past transgressions involving various Slytherins, though, I was betting on the former option. No matter what I would say, James would smile patronizingly, make some odd comment, and then dither off, usually leaving me in whatever mess I had gotten myself into. Prat.

I nodded and he continued, "You know, Lily, I happen to think that I bring out the best in people."

"Really," I drawled, standing up again, "the _best_ in a person. Well, isn't that interesting. Tell me, Potter, how is it good for me to be destroying furniture and the like in your presence? How does that show off the best of me?"

"Because, Lily," James said, turning toward the portrait door and opening it, "you look gorgeous when you're angry with yourself. Your brow furrows, your eyes get all…fiery, and your nostrils flare, which I find oddly endearing. Plus, I think it means that you like me."

My hand flew to my nose. My nostrils did not flare! And by the wa—

Wait a moment…

My face dropped its look of absolute annoyance as I watched his back disappear through the door; instead, I adopted a look of utter disbelief.

_What_ had he just said to me?


	2. Noticing the Tiniest Things

**A/N:** Amazingly enough...I've already posted something on FanFic today. But, I thought that since I have the time for things like this at the moment, I should take advantage of that. Et voila! Thanks for the reviews on the first "sign"--hopefully this one won't disappoint. Review if you'd like!

**Disclaimer:** Most assuredly not mine.

**The Seven Signs of Love**

**Noticing The Tiniest Things**

James has a _bump _on the bridge of his nose. It's not a large one, and it doesn't make him look like one of those Romans you see on old coins, but it is a bump, I thought to myself that next Thursday in Potions.

I also had the sneaking suspicion that his right earlobe was larger than his left. It could have been a trick of the light, or maybe his glasses did something to that ear. It didn't matter, but…it was a bit odd. For instance, _my_ earlobes were pretty much the sa—

No wait, I thought, my right earlobe _is_ a bit smaller.

Well… at any rate, it was still odd. I'd never noticed that in anyone else before. His must have been more prominent than my earlobe difference was, seeing as I noticed his before mine. I'd have to ask Emmeline if she noticed as well…

At the same time—I couldn't believe my earlobes were different!

"Lily?"

Oh, right. I stopped staring at James from across the room and looked back down at the potion I was currently brewing. Next to me, Emmeline was watching me oddly.

"Are you, erm, quite all right?" Emmeline said in her timid voice.

"Oh, of course. Why do you ask?"

How many times was I supposed to stir the cauldron? Sixteen, or fifty-three? I couldn't remember. Not that it mattered. Slughorn would give me top marks anyway. After I brewed that Invisibility Potion last term, Professor Slughorn wouldn't leave me alone. He said I was one of the greatest potion students he'd ever had the "pleasure of teaching". But Emmeline hadn't brewed an Invisibility Potion, so it was better that I kept on for her sake.

"Well," Emmeline replied, "you were holding onto your earlobe and staring at James and Sirius."

"I wasn't staring at _Sirius_," I said quickly. "Nor James, of course... I wasn't staring at anyone."

Emmeline looked at me for a long while before saying, "All right… You can stop stirring that cauldron, by the way. It was only supposed to be stirred for four rounds."

"Ah, four. Not sixteen then?" I asked, taking the wooden spoon out of the large, black pot.

Emmeline didn't answer. She bent down over he Potions book and said, "Next we need…Root of Aster. I say—you haven't got any Aster, have you?"

"No. Don't you have some in your stores?"

Emmeline shook her head. "You used all of mine up when you made that Invisibility Potion. I didn't think to get more. I suppose that's where all of yours went to as well?"

I nodded. It did not appear as if this Potions session was going well. Still, I hadn't managed to break anything for the whole class, so that was something. And, it was a double Potions class, so perhaps we could turn our Aster-less potion into something even better?

"Emmeline," I said suddenly, my hand moving back up to my earlobe, "before we go on…do you think Potter's got uneven earlobes?"

Emmeline stared at me with her mouth slightly agape. She glanced over at James, who was stirring his potion four times as Sirius chopped up what sadly appeared to be Root of Aster, then she glanced back at me. There was another minute or so of codfish-like staring on her part as I felt my other earlobe. Surely, _surely_ they weren't as bad as James's were!

"I don't know, Lily," Emmeline said. "How can you even _see_ his earlobes from here?"

"Well, I'm not saying I've just noticed it," I replied. Why was she using that tone of voice—as if I were mad or something? "I'm just asking because I think it is very odd that he has such a large right earlobe…not to mention that bump on his nose."

"_What_?" Emmeline asked.

"Never mind," I said quickly, turning back to the potion. "Do you think we can turn this into something else?"

"Erm, like what exactly?"

"_I_ don't know, Emmeline. That's why I'm asking. If _I_ knew, certainly I would have done it already!" I exclaimed.

Things were starting to get urgent. Our potion was turning an interesting red color and the bubbles that came to the surface were starting to let off oddly lyrical notes. Then, quite suddenly, it dawned on me.

"Emmeline," I shouted, "give me that Potions book!"

Emmeline handed over the large tome, watching me expectantly. From across the room, I could hear Professor Slughorn berate some poor student for their sludgy mess of a Potion. I sat down in my seat and started to rifle through the pages. Where was it, where was it? Suddenly, a bright pink page caught my attention and I stopped abruptly.

"Em," I whispered, "do you have any Essence of Lotus?"

Emmeline rustled around in her stores of potion ingredients. "Yes," she answered happily.

"And what about Seaweed Extract, Root of Hyacinth, and fish scales," I asked quickly, looking up at her.

Emmeline was rummaging through her stores, pulling bottles and labeled packets out left and right. Some kind of a dark powder had spilled out of a broken package, but Emmeline didn't seem to notice. She was too wrapped up in the task at hand. I looked quickly up at Professor Slughorn, who had seated himself in his large chair at the front of the room, dipping his hand into a box of candied-pineapple.

"Seaweed Extract…Root of Hyacinth…" She mumbled to herself. "Fish scales? Fish scales…I don't have any fish scales!"

"Oh, bugger," I said.

I set the book to the side, and pulled out my own stores. I shoved bottles left and right until I came upon the one I wanted. I pulled it out and shook it at Emmeline, the scales shining from inside of the glass bottle.

"Fish scales," I said proudly.

"What are we going to brew?" Emmeline asked.

"Well, my friend, I will tell you once you've answered me this simple question: does James Potter have uneven earlobes?"

I stood up and grabbed Emmeline by the shoulders, turning her around so that she was staring at James. I had no idea why this was so important to me, but surely I couldn't be the only one to notice such an oddity in the boy!

Emmeline squinted her eyes and said, "Y-yes?"

"Good," I said, a little more than relieved. "Now just stand there and stir that pot."

"For how long," Emmeline asked, looking very concerned, as if she'd been too distracted with looking for ingredients to worry about just _why_ she was looking for them in the first place.

I shook my red hair out of my face and stood up straighter. "You stir until you hear singing," I said simply. It would do no good to tell her what it was we were actually brewing—Emmeline was a worrier.

I took pinches of the ingredients in my fingers and sprinkled them into the pot Emmeline was stirring. In went the Seaweed Extract, its ropey contents disappearing quickly. The Hyacinth floated on the surface for a moment before slowly sinking. And as soon as the fish scales hit the already red potion, it boiled violently before turning a deep-hued scarlet color.

Suddenly, voices bubbled up from our cauldron. The cacophony of sweet tones, notvoicing lyricsso much as singing notes, forced everyone to look over at us. Emmeline jumped away from the cauldron, squeaking with fright in the process.

I glanced at James, who was staring at me with an open mouth and a puzzled expression. How long had his eyes been that odd bronze color, I wondered. Strange, the bump on his nose seemed to set his eyes off nicely…although that earlobe did nothing to help him out in the looks department.

James ran a hand through his dark—unusually dark—hair before a voice boomed across the room, "Ms. Evans, Ms. Vance, please explain to me what that _heavenly_ music is!"

"Er, well Professor Slughorn," I began, dragging my eyes away from James, "neither Emmeline nor I had any Root of Aster, so we improvised."

Professor Slughorn made his was over to our potion station, pushing past students until he stood before us, breathing heavily. He leaned down to the cauldron and listened for a moment before straightening up and saying, "My word—it sounds as if that's an immature batch of Siren's Song Potion!"

I nodded happily and said, "It certainly is, Professor. Because the potion we were supposed to be brewing started off the same as this one, I though—Emmeline and I thought that we would just…work our magic on it. Give it a good two weeks and I guarantee that Emmeline and I could trap any males who come across our paths."

Professor Slughorn chuckled and said, "No doubt you could, my girls, no doubt you could!" He turned to the rest of the class and shouted, "You see class! Ms. Evans and Ms. Vance have turned a mess into a magnificent potion! Well done, you two! Well done! Twenty-five points each, I think!"

I grinned at Emmeline, who was looking very relieved as she clutched the wooden spoon tightly to her chest and sat down on one of the stools next to our potion station.

I leaned down to her and whispered, "I bet we get full marks for the rest of the term…"

Emmeline shook her head in amazement and said, "I don't _believe_ how you did that, Lily."

"Neither do I," came a voice from behind me.

I turned around quickly to face James as he stood sniffing our potion and listening to singing that was welling up from it. Funny, I'd never noticed before that he had a slight swirl of hair on the crown of his head, as if it decided to grow like water going down a drain in that one small part.

James stood up and I couldn't help staring at his earlobe.

"I wonder, Lily," James said, grinning cheekily at me, "just who you are going to use this 'magnificent potion' on?"

I glared at him suddenly. "Why do _you_ care, Potter?"

"Oh, no reason," he replied slowly. "I just hoped it might be…me?"

I snorted with indignation as he turned and walked across the Potions classroom, swaggering the whole way. He reached his own cauldron, turned around, and then winked at me! I turned to Emmeline, who was watching the whole scene with an amused expression.

"Not _only_ does he have an abnormally large right earlobe," I said loudly, "but that impudent prat _also_ has a cowlick at the back of his head!"


	3. More Mellow Than Yellow

**A/N:** Thank you for the reviews—I'm glad you like this so far. Not much of an Author's Note beyond—ENJOY! And review if you'd like.

**Disclaimer:** Most assuredly not mine.

**The Seven Signs of Love**

**More Mellow Than Yellow**

I had always liked quidditch games. Oh, I know what a few of my friends would tell you—"Cor, does Lily get obsessed with the blasted things!" Really, who wouldn't?

Despite the fact that they were loud, what with the screaming, cheering, obnoxious attendees, quidditch games were _exciting_. Balls whooshing about! Bludgers jerking here and there! Players zipping all over the place! And the snitch—that little golden ball that _everyone_ was always trying to spot—flitting all over the place like…well pretty much like the little, gold, flying ball that it is!

Oho yes—I so dearly loved those exiting, death-defying games! Once in a while, some player might crash into the stands or into another player, or even nearly fall off their broom, making the crowd below gasp in terror.

Like I said, _very_ exciting.

So, it was no wonder that my group of friends were giving me odd looks. Usually I was cheering, jeering, screaming, and shouting with the rest of them. Saturday afternoon, however, I merely sat in the stands, staring out onto the quidditch pitch as Hufflepuff and Gryffindor players zoomed by.

The crowd let out astounded "Oohs" as I sat quietly on my part of the bench, watching one of the players in particular. I couldn't see his large earlobe from this far away, but I would know that pompous flying anywhere.

James Potter, not much more than a streak of gold and red, dodged a bludger near the Hufflepuff goalposts, flipping over in the process. Flying upside down, James inched closer to the hoop-like goals, the prized quaffle ball clutched tightly in his arms. When it appeared that the coast was clear, and only the keeper was attempting to thwart him, James turned his broom back over, held the quaffle in his hands, and then threw it into one of the goals.

The loud ding that signaled scored points set the onlookers around me cheering wildly. I sat back and smiled. Sure James was a prat, but he was a bloody good quidditch player too.

"Lily," shouted Alice McGodfry from down the row of onlookers, "all right?"

I turned to her. She and Emmeline were watching me with worried expressions. "Just fine," I replied serenely. "Why?"

"Well you're just sitting there," Alice called. "It's rather unnerving. Shouldn't you be shouting horrendous slurs at the other team…or waving your arms wildly like usual?"

I smiled benignly at her. "I've been cheering," I replied.

Alice frowned and Emmeline said, "Well, actually, Lily, you cheered once, when the teams came out onto the pitch…but we've not heard much out of you since then. Do you want to go to the infirmary?"

I shook my head 'No' and turned back to watch the game, my eyes roving the field as if I was searching for the golden snitch, although that was hardly my motive. Ah! There he was.

James was darting in and out of players now, passing the quaffle to another Gryffindor teammate. The quaffle soared through the air toward James's teammate, but the boy missed it, and the quaffle flew past him, into the waiting arms of a Hufflepuff player. James shook his fist and flew over to his teammate, whapping him on the back of his head.

"I say!" Exclaimed Emmeline from next to me, "That was rather violent!"

"Don't you think that was violent, Lily?" Alice called down to me.

I shrugged and continued to watch the game. Of course it was violent—all of quidditch was violent… But I didn't take the time to explain that to Alice.

An announcer proclaimed, "Hufflepuff—115 to 110!"

The Gryffindors around me "booed" and made rude gestures at the announcer and at the Hufflepuff-section of the stands. I sat back and watched James fly around, trying to get the quaffle back and make another goal.

Suddenly there was a whistle and the stands erupted in boos and cheering. The snitch had apparently been caught.

The announcer screamed over the crowd, "THE SNITCH HAS BEEN CAUGHT AND HUFFLEPUFF WINS!"

"OH THAT'S JUST _GREAT_!" Alice screamed, her face turning red in fury as she punched at the air.

Beside me, Emmeline shook her head and cried, "Well bugger all a thousand times over! I was _sure_ we'd get it!"

I watched James yell at his team members and point toward the locker room in obvious anger. Emmeline tugged on my arm and we started to head out of the stands, passing by the quidditch pitch right as James marched along it, shoving the Gryffindor seeker roughly toward the locker room at the end of the Gryffindor-section of the stands. Normally, such behavior would have set me off on a rant, but I just stopped and watched James instead.

He caught my eye and walked over to Emmeline, Alice, and me, saying to the seeker, "Just get in there, Bradley, and explain to them _why_ you couldn't spot something that was hovering near your blasted nose!"

The seeker hung his head, his nose bloody and quite possibly broken from when the Hufflepuff seeker had caught the snitch, and he slinked in through the locker room door.

"All right, Lily?" James asked, standing in front of me and nodding at Alice and Emmeline.

"All right, Potter," I replied.

"_Great_ game, Potter," Alice said sarcastically from beside me.

James raised his eyebrows and didn't reply. Instead he wiped sweat off of his forehead and started to take his gloves off. "Listen, girls—even though we lost, there's still going to be a bit of a celebration in the common room. Why don't you come along, yeah? No use hiding out in your dormitory like usual."

"Potter," Emmeline pointed out, "we _don't_ hide in our dormitory for quidditch celebrations. You're usually too _pissed_ by the time we get there to notice us."

"Really?" Asked James, watching me as he said it.

"And _why_, exactly," Alice nearly screeched with anger, "are you having a celebration for a game that you _lost_?"

James cocked his head and replied in a cheerful tone, "Any reason _at all_ is a reason for a party, Alice dear."

Alice trembled with rage and stormed off, pulling Emmeline along with her. Emmeline started to shout something to us, but her words were lost as she and Alice disappeared into the crowd. James watched them go for a moment before turning to me.

"Why so quiet, Lily?" he asked.

"Why so prattish, _James_," I countered quietly, watching him squirm as I used his name mockingly.

James squinted his eyes and leaned toward me. "You be as mellow, quiet, and placid as you want, Lily," James said slowly. "But I promise you, I'll notice if you aren't at that celebration."

I lifted my eyebrows at him and shrugged, deciding not to berate for what sounded like a threat to me. I watched him wipe more sweat out of his eyes for a moment, and then I turned around and walked into the crowd of people making their way back to the castle.

Behind me, James shouted, "I mean it Lily! I'm not getting pissed until I see your pretty face!"

I lifted my eyes skyward. That boy was _such_ a romantic sometimes.


	4. Everything Is Illuminated

**A/N:** Like I've said in _Train Ride_, I am back from holiday. Here is another gift from abroad… although, I really don't like this chappie as much as the others. Anyway, please enjoy, and review if you'd like!

**Disclaimer:** Most assuredly not mine.

**The Seven Signs of Love**

**Everything Is Illuminated**

I have _very_ good eyesight. I'm not going to lie. People have always told me that I could attribute that to the unusual dark green of my eyes…something about how they pick up more light. Whatever the cause, I'd been a little worried about my eyes as of late. It was one thing to have good eyesight, but quite another to be able to see the details on a telescope in the pitch black of night.

My astronomy class was standing atop the astronomy tower. The moon was new, so it was absolutely black out there. We all had our telescopes pointed toward Neptune, which just happened to be in retrograde. At least, some of our telescopes were pointed in the direction of Neptune. Quite a few students were having trouble finding the planet, on account that they could not see properly in the dark.

They must not have had green eyes.

I could hear James a few students down from me whisper frantically to Sirius Black. He'd been prodding at his telescope for the past ten minutes, trying to find the right dial.

"I can't see a bloody thing!" He hissed.

"Errm…" Sirius replied, bending down over the parapets in an attempt to get a better look at his telescope.

"What kind of maniac professor won't let us use Lumos? What kind of mad professor forces us to part with our wands for a whole class? 'Leave those light sticks with me, students.' Who does that? 'Light will ruin the effect of the stars,' he says. Bloody loony if you ask me," James complained.

Several students hissed "Shush!" at him and turned back to their telescopes.

"Oh, why don't you just _piss off_?" James cried, looking over at the students. They shook their heads and tried to go back to their work, but James kept staring down the lie until he finally caught my eye. "He's mad; wouldn't you say so, Lily?"

I shook my head at him and smirked. "I've no problem at all with the assignment, James."

James frowned and tugged at his hair. "'Course you don't, love," he replied snidely. "I think you might be in denial."

I grinned at him as I held up my star chart, already fully filled out. I resisted the urge to stick my tongue out at him, as that would have been completely childlike and uncalled for. James's mouth fell open as he stared at me in astonishment.

"Impossible!" He cried.

James was wrong. It was not impossible. My fully filled out star chart was all in thanks to my wonderful eyesight, which seemed to be rapidly improving by the minute. In fact, looking at James, I was able to count how many freckles dotted his nose, even from four students away.

James continued to scowl at me, saying, "What are you looking at me so long for, Evans? Like what you see, eh?"

I glared at him and replied, "It's hardly my fault that the area of stars we're to be studying is right above _your_ head."

He had twelve freckles from what I could see.

James let out a huff of breath and turned back to prod at his telescope some more. Next to me, someone nudged me with their elbow. I turned to stare at Emmeline as she tugged my star chart out of my hand.

"Just a peek, Lily," she whispered.

"_Emmeline_!" I whispered back screechly as I snatched my chart away from Emmeline, "I'm not going to let you _copy_ off of my star chart!"

"But, _Lily_," Emmeline said loudly, grabbing at my chart once more, "I can't see a thing in this wretched black! Potter was right, our professor _must_ be loony!"

"You hear that, Lily? Emmeline agrees with me!" James shouted from down the line as Emmeline and I fought over the completed star chart.

Someone cleared their throat loudly from behind Emmeline. We both stopped our squabbling and looked up into the aged face of the Astronomy professor in shock. He was glaring down at us menacingly, obviously having heard what both Emmeline and James had said. Emmeline and I let go of the star chart simultaneously as we started making excused to the professor.

Suddenly a light breeze blew around us and the distinct shape of a piece of parchment was seen floating ghost-like over the parapet and into the dark of the night.

"No!" I shouted, flinging out my arm in a poor attempt to catch my chart. Down the way, I saw James reach out and try to grab it as well.

"Bad luck, Lily," James called down the line.

I turned quickly back to the old professor. "I—I have to…my _star chart_, Professor!"

The professor nodded and gestured toward the trap door which led down and out of the Astronomy tower. "Go on, then."

I don't think I've ever run so fast through an institution of learning as I did trying to get down to the Hogwarts grounds.

Oh, sure, I tooted my horn loudly when it came to that star chart—'I've no problem at all with the assignment.' But let's face it—that star chart was difficult! The only reason why I finished it in the first place was because of my eyesight, which, running through the corridors of Hogwarts, desperately trying to get outside and find that chart, was starting to fail me.

My shoulder slammed painfully into a corner as I rushed through darkened passages. Grabbing at my arm, I burst out of the castle and onto the grounds, running toward the base of the astronomy tower.

I might have been imagining things, but everything looked a lot darker down on the ground then it did on the top of the astronomy tower. Where was that light I had used to count James' freckles with, or see the stars over his head with, or fill my chart out with?

Gone, it was all gone.

I groped around in the grass and heather at the bottom of the castle wall for several minutes, praying that my hand would brush some parchment, until I realized that there was no way for me to find anything in the black of night.

Sitting back on my knees, I let out a sigh and closed my eyes with exasperation, only to open them seconds later as a blast of light turned the insides of my eyelids orange.

"Evans?" James's said, as he shined a light in my eyes. "Did you find your chart then?"

I stood up to push the lit wand he held up away from my face. "No, I did not, thanks. And would you mind getting this bloody light out of my eyes?"

James shrugged and turned away, saying, "Sorry, just thought you might want some light down here. Could have helped you in looking for your paper, you know. But, if it's too bright, I'll just be going back up to the astronomy tower…"

"Potter," I growled at James as he started to head toward the entrance of the school, "get back here."

"Yes, Lily," said James, turning back to me with his hand covering the tip of his wand, stopping the light from washing over the grass around me.

It was funny, but even with light from the wand blocked out, I could suddenly see again. It was as if I didn't need James's stupid, overly-bright wand anymore. Had the stars suddenly got brighter? Had someone lit a candle in a window, perfectly situated to shine light down upon the area of my search? What was going on that I could finally see with the skill I had up on the astronomy tower?

"Oh, look, your chart!" Exclaimed James, dashing over to a spot a few yards away, and picking up a piece of parchment, "Found it, Lily!"

James walked back over to me and held out my star chart, his hand falling away from the end of his wand, illuminating the ground around our feet.

I frowned as I stared at James, who pushed the paper into my hands as he approached me.

"I think you're supposed to thank me now, Evans," said James, putting out the light from his wand.

"Er," I said, still frowning at him.

"What? Do I have something on my face? Well?" James brushed at his face with his hand until I grabbed it and forced it back down to his side.

"Let's just go back to class, shall we?" I said quietly. I turned my back on James and headed toward the castle.

"You know," James called while following me, "we don't _have_ to go back to class. The great thing about losing a paper over the parapets of the highest tower in the school is that the professor will assume it's going to take you a while to locate said paper. I think we could get away with a trip to the kitchens, even. They still have some leftover food from the quidditch celebration two day ago down there."

I shook my head and refused to look back at James. "Let's just go back…to class…right now…with no stops…and definitely no kitchens."

James caught up to me and said, "Are you okay, Lily? You're acting a bit odd."

I flicked my eyes to James quickly and replied, "Oh yes, just…lovely." And then I was off, running up the passages in a mad dash for the top of the astronomy tower, leaving James standing in the entrance of the castle with a puzzled expression on his face.

I take it back—_that_ was the fastest I've ever run through an institution of learning.

I had been lying to James. I certainly was not all right. Clutching my star chart to my chest as I bolted up the stairs of the astronomy tower, away from James, I tried very, very hard not to wonder why my eyesight was so improved when _he_ was around…just why my eyes, for lack of a better expression, _lit up_.

To no avail, of course, as I remembered that when James had handed me my star chart back, I had noticed a thirteenth freckle on his left cheekbone.


End file.
